A Mayor, A President And Freedom Of The Press
[guest post by Dana]
Last week, just hours after the massacre in France, the mayor of Rotterdam spoke on national televevision. Moroccan-born Muslim Ahmed Aboutaleb delivered a brief, sharply-worded, no-nonsense message to the Muslim immigrant community in the Netherlands:
It is incomprehensible that you can turn against freedom. But if you don’t like freedom, for heavens sake pack your bags and leave.
If you do not like it here because some humorists you don’t like are making a newspaper, may I then say you can f*** off.
This is stupid, this so incomprehensible. Vanish from the Netherlands if you cannot find your place here.
Meanwhile, the White House today announced plans to fight the media in printing “anti-jihad” material. Shamefully using the American military as cover, Josh Earnest explained the administration’s intent to stomp on the First Amendment:
President Barack Obama has a moral responsibility to push back on the nation’s journalism community when it is planning to publish anti-jihadi articles that might cause a jihadi attack against the nation’s defenses forces[.]
“The president … will not now be shy about expressing a view or taking the steps that are necessary to try to advocate for the safety and security of our men and women in uniform” whenever journalists’ work may provoke jihadist attacks.
Earnest justified the plan:
Whenever journalists consider publishing materials disliked by jihadis, “I think there are a couple of absolutes,” he told the reporters.
The first is “that the publication of any kind of material in no way justifies any act of violence, let alone an act of violence that we saw on the scale in Paris,” he said.
The second absolute is the president’s duty to lobby editors and reporters against publishing anti-jihadi information, he said. ”And there is — this president, as the commander in chief, believes strongly in the responsibility that he has to advocate for our men and women in uniform, particularly if it’s going to make them safer,” Earnest said.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (8e74ce) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:02 pmAnd said editors have a duty to to tell the CiC to lecture al Azhar instead.
But how many of them will?
kishnevi (6f9765) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:14 pmSo I shouldn’t make this comment?
He was born in Medina
nk (dbc370) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:17 pmThat’s in West Arabia
Not far from Mecca
But he liked to tell everybody
He was from Lake Charles
Did an angel whisper in your ear?
“Mohammed, Louisiana ain’t even been discovered yet”.
I find the Kenyan apostate’s words offensive. We are not that easily offended and it is a vile slander to say that we are. And jihadis is not a word. We are mujahideen.
nasreddin korasani (dbc370) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:25 pmnk: Mohammed was born at 600 N. Wabash Avenue?
kishnevi (749a65) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:29 pm(And it is now a Bloomie’s? Quelle letdown!)
Jesus Christ. Even mussies are offended by the SOBiC’s attack on the 1st amendment.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:40 pmokay, I’ve had it.
seeRpea (3cc998) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:41 pmOur PotUS is a schmuck.
When the government starts telling you what to not say, it is about time to start saying those things. Loudly and a lot.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:57 pmIn the wake of Putin invading the Crimea, when Barry responded by threatening not to honor Russian checking accounts without two forms of ID, a Russian guy, on a facebook thread, felt the need to remind us Americans that they still have nukes, and there could be dire repercussions. Like bombing the White House, for instance.
I responded by sending him the President’s itenerary, but I doubt they will do us the favor.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/13/2015 @ 9:58 pmScrew obama and all the other muslims lovers. He can go home to Kenya anytime he wants.
Jim (84e66d) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:23 pmThe Future Does Not Belong to Those Who Slander the Prophet of Islam
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:32 pmTwo forms of I.D.!! Take that Putin.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:41 pmPerhaps the feckless fool who occupies the WH would consider moderating his own words when it comes to inciting hatred of the police and contempt of the justice system.
If Josh Earnest had a conscience, his brain would implode. How can any thinking adult utter such garbage.
And potus is the guy who is targetting those he considers likely hostiles with drones that strike without warning, killing all within 20 meters. I think these things probably weigh more heavily on muslim minds, living beneath the friendly skies ruled by Obola, than some publications half a world away.
bobathome (d4306f) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:48 pmThis is appeasement. It doesn’t work.
Now Obama is probably getting this advice from the same people who thought the disinformation that the attack in Benghazi was prompted by a video was true.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:51 pmhe could start by letting the troops set ROE that makes sense and by not involving him self, or DC in general, in the targeting of ISIS.
redc1c4 (34e91b) — 1/13/2015 @ 11:39 pmit’s not like america’s propaganda whores need a lot of arm-twisting to get with the fascist program
happyfeet (831175) — 1/14/2015 @ 4:00 amThey gots that fascist groove thang, feets.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/14/2015 @ 4:56 amThis Preezy doesn’t advocate for me, the bastard. He has, what, a 15 percent approval rating with people in the military? This is the reason why.
I joined the Navy to fight this country’s enemies. Not to hide out, to be kept safe from harm.
The whole point is to go into harm’s way.
Maybe that sounds like empty talk. But I did write that check. And it makes me sick for this WH to be using people like me to make excuses.
Steve57 (be0b5f) — 1/14/2015 @ 4:56 amNow Obama is probably getting this advice from the same people who thought the disinformation that the attack in Benghazi was prompted by a video was true.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/13/2015 @ 10:51 pm
Gullible much, Sammy?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/14/2015 @ 4:57 amThis is the guy who couldn’t even shift his coffee cup to the off hand so he could make a simple gesture of respect to the Marines flying his helo.
But now, NOW, they’re useful.
Steve57 (be0b5f) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:01 amI think Earnest is in a contest to try to catch up with Carney’s legacy of asshattery.
JD (86a5eb) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:11 amThe 15% is what Obama was talking about Steve, and he has the full backing of the senior generals. Safe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aotlEpmAFVQ
nasreddin korasani (dbc370) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:15 amSorry. Je ne suis pas nasreddin korasani.
nk (dbc370) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:15 amObama should be beheaded.
ropelight (14147b) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:17 amThat is a bit extreme.
JD (dd904d) — 1/14/2015 @ 5:31 amIt is curious that the administration is headed down the same road they took after Benghazi. They needed to provide a scapegoat for their own cowardice and negligence in that case. And there was the small matter of Obola’s reelection. The tale “worked” in the sense that it took several months before the LHMFM stopped supporting the lie. This seems to be somewhat preemptive. What are we missing?
bobathome (d4306f) — 1/14/2015 @ 6:15 amApparently, if the Muslims want to irritate President Obama and give him conniptions,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 1/14/2015 @ 6:30 amthey’ll have to highlight their anti-homosexuality policy.
Raping and killing Christians is so passé.
Advocate for our men and women in uniform?? When has anyone in this administration ever done that? Such shameless and demonstrably false BS. He’d burn us all to protect Islamic fundamentalists.
BK in BR (c5605e) — 1/14/2015 @ 7:24 amSee, I don’t understand where people are getting the impression I don’t like Muslims. I don’t like certain Muslims. The unlikable kind.
During my formative years, I grew up with refugees from the Iranian revolution. Their most polite words for the mullahs were “those b@stards.” They couldn’t stand what the mullahs did to their country. I have, I guess, adopted their position.
Sorry if that makes me a bad guy.
Steve57 (be0b5f) — 1/14/2015 @ 7:31 amJust when I think this nation’s president can’t be more of a leftist dope and fool, he tops himself.
We had an early preview or hint of just how bad he’d be at the start of this debacle known as the era of Obama back in 2009, in the way the current administration wanted to treat Honduras’ exiled president Manuel Zelaya.
A lot of this can be traced to the bits of squish-squish that exists in perhaps most people out there, evident in George W Bush’s “Islam is a religion of peace” statement right after 9-11 or some of Patterico’s sentiments over the past few days. Sentiments that have overwhelmed institutions from churches to the US military, from schools to the world of sports. Simply put, to paraphrase, “he who is without liberal bias, cast the first stone.”
Mark (c160ec) — 1/14/2015 @ 7:37 am“Two forms of I.D.!! Take that Putin.”
This reminds me of the joke about Obama cashing a check. The teller asks him what he can do to prove he is Obama. He answers, “I haven’t a clue.” The teller says, “Do you want that in tens and twenties ?”
Mike K (90dfdc) — 1/14/2015 @ 7:57 am==I think Earnest is in a contest to try to catch up with Carney’s legacy of asshattery.==
JD–I think Earnest has eclipsed Carnie, actually. Josh is emotionless. He lies and obfuscates easily and calmly, without even breaking a sweat. Carnie at least used to stammer and wipe his brow and get red faced sometimes.
elissa (757b3f) — 1/14/2015 @ 8:14 amWhat can he be thinking?
He doesn’t care about the military. Over 75% of the casualties in Afghanistan happened on his watch, his policies leaving our guys as sitting ducks.
He’s making it really hard not to believe those who say he’s on the other side.
What on earth can he be thinking?
Patricia (5fc097) — 1/14/2015 @ 9:24 amIt is worth reposting a link here illustrating while many of our “moderate” Muslim allies are willing to denounce acts of violence by vanilla scented eligible bachelor extremist activist bundles of love with a warped view of Islam, they also share an attitude about the defamation of religions with such extremists. The Obama Administration has been helping to advance that point of view and the position taken by the president outlined in this post is fully consistent with prior actions.
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/01/12/organization-of-islamic-cooperation-calls-for-more-speech-codes-defamation-laws-in-wake-of-charlie-hebdo-attack/
Trigger Warning – The author or site of the link may be expressly disclaimed by carlitos.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/14/2015 @ 11:44 amMake that categorically dismissed
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/14/2015 @ 11:45 amRemember when FDR asked Hollywood to tone down the anti-Nazi, anti-Japanese war movies made during WWII? Me neither.
Bud Norton (29550d) — 1/14/2015 @ 11:53 am“Remember when FDR asked Hollywood to tone down the anti-Nazi, anti-Japanese war movies made during WWII? Me neither.”
Bud – I think Dan Rather claimed Abraham Lincoln asked TV network chiefs to lighten up on the anti-confederate stuff during the Civil War.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/14/2015 @ 12:06 pmThat was FDR, daleyrocks! LOL.
—-Joe Biden
Patricia (5fc097) — 1/14/2015 @ 3:50 pmWhy does pResident 0bama want to be Impeached?
firefirefire (2844e9) — 1/15/2015 @ 1:30 pmDoes he believe it will rescue his legacy?